Settle Down
by marylinn
Summary: After finding a bleeding, naked girl in an alleyway, Raphael finds himself falling into a dangerous, intense, and psychologically-driven journey. Falling in love, but not in the usual way: it's complicated. /2014 movie-realm


**WARNING**

_I'll be taking concepts of the ninja turtles and spinning them with a dark realism and emotional depository, exploring the havoc feral instincts, isolation from humanity, and a warrior's drive can cause to a mutant's psych. so get ready for drama people._

* * *

Raphael grunted when a strong ray of sunlight spilt from the tip of the skyline into his eyes.

He rose and stretched his arms behind his carapace, pressing his feet to the edge of the building before he sprung across to the next rooftop, clenching his eyes into slits as a bitter wind whipped against his face—flying silently across the jungle of skyscrapers and racing the beams of light that were rapidly beginning to cover the sky and city. This was one of the times where he was glad that he lived beneath the surface, where an irritating thing like sunlight couldn't disturb him when he was savoring his much needed sleep.

Raphael danced over several more buildings before stopping at the edge of one that formed part of an alleyway. He quickly looked around before he dropped down and landed silently to the ground—pushing back the hood of his jacket with a growl as several drops of rain from the previous day dropped into his eyes from the fire escape above his head. He glared up at the iron bars, as though daring it to release more drops of rain. After several seconds of nothing but the occasional cat screeching somewhere further down the alley, Raphael nodded in satisfaction and knelt down to grasp the manhole cover he was standing in front of.

"Hrmph . . ."

He froze and felt his breath catch in surprise.

Slowly drew himself up to his full height before turning to look behind him. His eyes grew wide behind his red bandana as they fell onto the figure that lay several feet behind him.

_A girl._

A girl with dark hair so long it cascaded demurely over her nude body. She was pushed into the farthest corner of the alleyway and was frantically kicking a leg that was wrapped in tight bandages. But it was her face that had him moving before the image processed through his brain:

She was in pain.

Whimpering, she whipped her head around into the wall as Raphael's eyes fell onto her calf that was strapped too tightly in gauze. His hands were ripping the ties off before he could even comprehend how they'd gotten there. Grunting, he popped the bindings free—eyes washing over the way it had dug into her already bleeding skin and cut off the circulation. His palm was smoothing up a long, lithe calf before he even realized what he was doing; gently squeezing to see if anything was broken, massaging blood back, touching . . .

Skin.

Warm to his touch, petal soft—_so incredibly smooth_, like silk that had been washed a trillion times.

Raphael couldn't rip his eyes from the sight of his big, green hand caressing over the olive skin, smoothing away the dry blood marks that had so blasphemously profaned the perfection. But then his brain made its big debut and he froze, sucking in a gasp through his teeth, yanking his hands back like he'd been burned while every cell in his body careened to a stop.

Blinking, Raphael moved back, gaze washed over her: head tipped fearfully into the space between her shoulder and the brick wall, hidden behind her hair.

His swallow squeaked in his throat. "Hey," he tried to whisper but it came out more like a rasp.

That chin tucked a little tighter and then turned incrementally toward him, peeking timidly from around the thick curtain. Slowly a heart-shaped face turned to him. The longest lashes he'd seen were nestled against high cheeks and a tiny nose that was complimented by perfect bow lips. Her features rolled pleasingly into a masterpiece that you only find on billboards and magazines. April couldn't even hold a candle to her.

Licking his lips, he tried again. "I'm . . . I'm Raph."

Her lashes drooped when they fluttered, the girl slowly lifting her gaze.

And Raphael felt like he'd been socked in the face.

Huge jade eyes wrapped around his heart, so achingly soulful and tender that he wanted to fall at her feet and weep. They overtook her face like a child's, but with the presence of a woman and the magnetism of something more still. In an instant Raphael knew, without a doubt, that he could fall into those eyes and drown without regret because surely there was nothing more beautiful in the world.

_Damn, what was he turning into? Shakespeare? _

She blinked slowly, freeing him from their spell and Raphael took a deep breath, watching her with narrowed eyes that practically dripped with suspicion.

Her head tipped fluidly to the side as delicate brows pushed together, making her look both concerned and confused. She flowed out of the corner and his breath hitched unevenly in his chest. Raphael held as still as physically possible as she pushed herself toward him with an effortless grace that made her look like she moved underwater. He couldn't tear his eyes from hers when they washed over his face and her head listed the other way.

When she got inches away from his form, she tipped her chin out tentatively toward him.

Mesmerized he slowly scooted closer while he watched her study him with an endearing wonder, her eyes returned to his, locking into place with two fluttering blinks and her bow lips curved hesitantly. Without a sound, she leaned in, swooping slowly up until they were nose-to-nose.

Raphael held his breath.

Then she leaned in and touched his nose with hers—a single gentle touch that was like ground zero in a nuclear holocaust. Shockwaves reeled through his body and he shuddered in resonance as her warm breath spilled over his face and he sucked it greedily over his lips so he could savor it in the roof of his mouth. Her scent was sweet but settled, like springtime and apple-blossoms and rain.

Suddenly she sprang back at the harsh explosion of sound above him. As the sky began to light up with lightning, she scrabbled back into the filthy corner. Running a hand over his face, Raphael's gaze darted over her lithe body curled in a knot under tangled hair, trying to figure out what to do and carefully ignoring the elephant in the room . . . or turtle.

These were the facts: here was a naked girl who was afraid, she'd just been through some sort of physical and mental trauma and they were both in need of some food and a shower.

First things first, he needed to get her somewhere safe.

With a deep breath, he moved a bit closer and offered her the softest smile he could manage. "I'm not going to hurt you," he husked.

Her head swayed again to the side, as if trying to understand the words. Unlike the crisp lupine mannerisms, her every move was liquid and Raphael wanted to reach out to her so badly . . . but if his fucked up life had taught him anything, it was patience. He shifted his stiff legs so he could kneel before her, taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly.

Raphael closely watched those eyes, that timorous curve to her lips, the way she inched across the concrete toward him. For once in his life Raphael was proud: he'd saved her life. He could have so easily turned away . . .

And let some freak find her.

A heated shudder raced up his spine and he tried to keep the fury out of his face—but she noticed.

Those sensitive brows knit as she tipped her head to the other side but instead of making her pause it just seemed to propel her forward faster.

In the next instant she was pushing off the ground with the heels of her hands and leaning toward him. Raphael bent forward a little more and again she rose until she touched her nose to his. His body reacted instantly—all the heat was pushed away by the wash of pleasure from the brush of her skin. He idly wondered if she had some kind of magic because he'd never felt anything like it.

She pulled back and those haunting eyes washed over his face like she was inspecting each pore. He was surprised she wasn't frightened, or at least uneasy about him being, well . . . a giant mutant turtle. But beyond all conscious thought she was strangely calm, almost ethereal.

Her gaze snapped down to his mouth and then back up to his eyes, the faintest echo of a smile appearing on her lips.

"I'm Raphael," he grunted, raising his palm to his chest. "Raphael."

Eyes darting down to the movement and she looked back up into his face with guileless confusion.

"You?" he asked her, "Raphael," he patted his plastron and then pointed to her, "You?"

She blinked up at him and instead of answering, she scooted closer, leaning into his shoulder. The girl seemed to find it as soothing, releasing a slow sigh as her body melted into his side.

Raphael's eyes squeezed shut at the feeling of warm skin against his own, letting out a shaky breath through his nose. He thrived in the feeling of her soft, supple skin against his own calloused flesh—but he wasn't stupid enough to think this was going to last long.

"Come on," Raphael let out a deep breath, his jaw clenching when the sky began to sprinkle droplets of rain. "Let's get that leg cleaned up."

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_so . . . this is probably really confusing, but everything will be explained later in the story! also, this is set in the new 2014 adaption. anyways, hope you enjoyed! reviews are so very, very welcomed! _

_**/this story is also posted on another teenage mutant ninja turtles archive/**_


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